Until You Met Me

“Gerard?” Molly’s tentative voice broke the silence that had fallen between them, causing Gerard to look up at her, an expression she couldn’t read on his face. She hadn’t wanted to speak first. After the admission she had made, she had hoped that Gerard’s reaction would be immediate, and that after seeing it, she would know what to say next, but he hadn’t said anything, and the silence had started to eat at her. She wasn’t expecting him to know exactly what to say. She didn’t know exactly how she felt, and she knew that she couldn’t expect him to be completely sure of his thoughts, one way or the other, but his reaction had given her nothing, and she knew that it meant that she had to try and coax it out of him. It wasn’t something that they could just pretend she hadn’t said.

Gerard opened his mouth, like he was about to say something, but quickly thought better of it.

Molly squeezed his hand softly. “I need you to say something” she said “Please? I just need to know what’s going through your head” she added.

Gerard’s stare fell to their hands for a moment before he slowly looked back up at her, his expression softening. “How convinced are you?” he asked.

“I don’t know” Molly replied “The nausea...it’s only happened a couple of times, and being late, I have been under a lot of stress recently with the wedding and work. Neither of them are exactly concrete symptoms, but it’s a possibility” she added.

Gerard nodded his head slowly.

“Gerard...”

“We should get to a pharmacy” Gerard interrupted “There’s a twenty four hour one nearby. We’ll do a test” he added as he pushed himself out of his seat.

Molly caught a hold of his wrist before he could get too far away, tugging him to a stop. “Gerard” she murmured.

“Molly...”

“Can you just stop for a second?” Molly interrupted, her voice caught somewhere between soft and frustrated “I don’t need to do a test right this second. It can wait until the morning if it has to. Right now I just...I need you to talk to me. I want to know what you’re thinking” she added.

She knew that she had to take a test. Now that she had put the idea out there, she knew that she had to rule it out, but she also knew that it could wait until she and Gerard had talked. She needed to hear what he was thinking. Before they had tangible proof that she was or wasn’t pregnant, she needed to know what was going through his head, and she wasn’t prepared to let him walk away before he told her. It was a huge thing, and whilst she wasn’t expecting him to have his head wrapped around it entirely, she knew that he must have thought something. She just wanted to know what it was.

Gerard was quiet for a moment before he slowly moved back towards her, his hands gently tilting her face up to look at him. “I would be over the moon” he murmured.

Molly’s eyes widened. “Really?” she asked.

“Really” Gerard confirmed without hesitation.

Molly opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, trying, and failing, to find a polite way to ask why he wasn’t terrified like she had half expected him to be, before Gerard leant forwards, kissing the side of her nose gently. “I am not saying I am not scared” he murmured “Because I think everyone is a little scared when they find out that they’re going to have a baby, but if you are, then I would be very happy about it. I want this, Molly” he added.

“You do?” Molly asked.

Gerard’s answered was a firm, and immediate, nod. “Do you?” he asked.

Molly finally let the relieved smile she had been biting back grow across her face. “I do” she confirmed “I just...I thought you’d be...”

“I know” Gerard mused, offering her a small apologetic smile. He knew what she had thought, that he would be scared or overwhelmed, and he couldn’t blame her for being worried. He had done a lot of damage to them in the past when he’d tried to slow things down because he was overwhelmed by what had been growing between them.

“You’d really be excited?” Molly prodded “You’re not just saying that because you think it is what I want to hear?” she added.

Gerard gently ghosted the tips of his fingers over her stomach before he looked up at her again, offering her a soft smile. “I’d be so excited” he said “I mean, I thought we’d at least get past the wedding before we had this conversation, but that doesn’t change how happy this would make me. I know why you’re worried, and I don’t blame you for it, but I promise you, Molly. If the test you take comes back positive, no one would be happier than me” he added.

Molly stared up at him, her eyes searching his face for any sign that he didn’t mean what he was saying, before she reached up, gently pushing his hair back off of his forehead. “I believe you” she said.

Gerard caught her hand, kissing the inside of her wrist gently, before he smiled at her again. “Do you want me to go to the pharmacy now?” he asked.

Molly nodded her head. “The sooner we find out, the better” she said.

Gerard nodded in agreement before he stepped away, retrieving his wallet and keys. Stuffing them both into his pocket, he walked back towards Molly and pressed his lips to hers, something which made Molly smile gently before she pulled away. “I love you” she said softly.

“I love you, too” Gerard replied “I’ll try and get back as quickly as I can. Are you going to be OK?” he asked.

Molly let out a soft laugh at his concern before she nodded. “I’ll be fine” she mused.

“If anyone calls, don’t answer” Gerard chirped, moving to pull on a jacket “You’re a terrible liar” he added impishly before he ducked out of the room, leaving Molly smiling amusedly to herself.